


Teeth and Claws

by genovianprince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Human Lance (Voltron), Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Lance (Voltron), Trans Male Character, Trans Male Lance (Voltron), Vampire Adam (Voltron), Werewolf Keith (Voltron), Werewolf Lotor (Voltron), Witch Shiro (Voltron), background Sheith - Freeform, he's transmasc nonbinary and lowkey genderfluif within that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:53:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23425072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genovianprince/pseuds/genovianprince
Summary: One night while preying on his next meal, Adam ran into a fascinating human who was actuallyexcitedto be fed on. When his memory charm failed to erase Lance's memory, he ran. While he was gone, Lance sought out Adam's husband, Lotor, who took him to their friendly witch, Shiro, to figure out the whole mess while he looked for his husband. After discovering Lance's mild immunity to magic, they decide to keep him around. Unfortunately, sinister beings from the past are hunting Adam and Lotor. Double unfortunately, the two of them are having romantic feelings for their squishy human who can't protect himself well against ancient vampires and ancient werewolves. "Yikes on bikes," as Lance likes to say so much.
Relationships: Adam/Lance (Voltron), Adam/Lance/Lotor (Voltron), Adam/Lotor (Voltron), Lance/Lotor (Voltron)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Adam Deserved Better Bang fic! Art by the lovely inkbadger here on AO3. I'll be posting it one chapter at a time instead of all at once because, well, y'all know how hectic and awful things have been lately in general haha. Need a little more time to polish the rest :) Excited to see this finally go up!

Adam sighed as his throat burned with the thirst he’d had to become comfortable with over the last few decades. It was so different from when he’d been human. Sometimes, he longed for the days of being human again, but most days, he didn’t think he’d trade it for anything.    
  
It was how he got to meet his lifelong partner, after all. Even if nearly all supernatural creatures would call him and Lotor crazy for being together. Werewolves and vampires weren’t  _ supposed _ to mix. They were  _ supposed _ to hate each other. Well, to hell with those kinds of expectations. Adam had never let society-at-large’s ideas of what Adam should be bother him before, and he sure as  _ fuck _ wouldn’t just because this society he’d been forced into was secret and had superpowers.   
  
His nostrils flared as he sniffed at the air, trying to find a pleasant blood type to feed on for the evening (and hopefully someone without any blood/genetic disorders - that just led down the path to Adam getting it for a while, and he  _ really _ didn’t want to deal with MCAS again). Other times the type was right, but it was infused with alcohol, and Adam didn’t feel like getting second-hand tipsy. Even more other times, the scent led to a person who was surrounded by people, and there was no way Adam would try to separate someone like that.   
  
Much easier to find someone already alone.   
  
He smiled to himself when he finally spotted the perfect target. Alone, hardly paying attention to their surroundings… He blended into the shadows, reappearing in front of the young person with their headphones on and face in their phone.   
  
“Excuse me,” he began, and was immediately punched in the stomach. Caught by surprise, he stumbled back, coughing, and stared at the person in wide-eyed shock.   
  
“I know karate,” the person lied, glaring at him with ice-cold blue eyes, “Don’t even try it. I saw you watching me, creep.”   
  
Adam blinked. “Try what?”   
  
Rolling their eyes, the stranger pulled out a can of pepper spray. “I’m not stupid. I’m not going to be your victim. Stay back or I’ll use this.”   
  
_ Ohhh… _ Adam sighed. “It isn’t like that,” he said, looking the stranger in the eye. He hated doing this, but there were little opportunities left for him tonight.    
  
The tenseness left the stranger’s body as Adam put them under his spell.  _ Calm. Shh. I’m not here to hurt you. _   
  
“What’s your name?” Adam asked politely, now that the stranger had become more docile.   
  
“...Lance,” they answered, peering at Adam inquisitively. “You… you’re… why do I suddenly trust you? I don’t…”   
  
“I have that kind of effect on people,” Adam said innocently. It was true. He just… had to activate it. “My name’s Adam. Are you alright? You looked a little off, so I came over to check on you. Nighttime is… not the best time to be alone.”   
  
“Yeah, keep saying things that make you sound like a creep,  _ creep. _ ” Despite their words, Lance smiled slightly. “What do you really want? Remember, I’ve got pepper spray!”   
  
Adam laughed. “Actually, I do want something from you. Your blood.”   
  
“Excuse me?!”   
  
“I’m a vampire.”   
  
“And I’m a rusalka.”   
  
“Not without a body of water nearby, you aren’t.”   
  
Lance blinked. “You actually knew what I was talking about?”   
  
“Of course. I’ve  _ met _ rusalki. Of course, they aren’t really strictly female entities these days, with the varied genders becoming more well-known and accepted.”   
  
“Huh… Okay… I still don’t believe you’re a vampire.” Lance squinted. “Prove it.”   
  
“There isn’t exactly any  _ sunshine _ at night.”   
  
“Mirrors? Garlic? I have a cross necklace.”   
  
Adam shook his head, sighing. “Mirrors in the ‘olden days’ used to be lined with silver. Silver is the real enemy. These days, they’re made with aluminium, so we can see our reflections. As for garlic, that’s just a common thing vampires become allergic to shortly after turning. And vampires aren’t particularly bothered by religion, either.”   
  
He pulled his _ magen David _ necklace from beneath his shirt. “See?”   
  
Lance pursed their lips. “Alright, evasive bastard. Show me your fangs.”   
  
Adam opened his mouth, letting his fangs slide down. They protruded about an inch from his mouth, dispelling any thoughts of them being implanted. After watching Lance’s baffled expression for a few seconds, he retracted his fangs again and smirked.    
  
“....Okay, you got me.” Lance suddenly bounced up on their toes excitedly. “Dude. A real vampire! Oh, God, I bet you’re thirsty, right? Oh, oh my God.” They squealed slightly. “I’d love it if — I mean, if that’s what’s going on? I’d be like, super honored.”   
  
Adam’s brows raised. “Well… If you’re sure. I’ve never met someone so… enthusiastic.”   
  
Lance snorted. “Dude, I’m a total monsterfucker. I mean, I dunno how much time you spend on the internet, but there’s plenty of people who’d jump at the chance to get fed on, let alone, like, fuck a vampire. Oh, please tell me there’s werewolves, too.”   
  
“Well, yes, actually.”   
  
“Oh my God.” Lance’s eyes lit up and they bounced again, looking far more…  _ giddy… _ than anybody Adam had ever tried to convince to let him feed from.   
  
“Anyway,” Adam said briskly, “I’d like to eat tonight, so shall we move to a more… covert place?”   
  
Lance nodded. “Yeah, yeah, sure, anything to help a guy in need.” They started walking —  _ skipping, _ really — away, down the road and into the darkness. Completely fearless.   
  
Adam was thrown for a loop, but it was working out in his favor. For a moment, he wondered if he’d overdone it on the hypno-juice, but no, it seemed like Lance was working completely off their own perceptions. Interesting. He followed after them for a few blocks, getting nervous as they  _ technically _ crossed the line into the local pack’s territory but he figured he would be fine. He needed to feed after all, and there were simply too many people back the other way.   
  
Herding Lance into a dark alley, he asked, “How would you like me to do this? Your wrist is a good feeding point that’s not as intimate as the neck—”   
  
“Oh, no, if you’re going to fulfill my fantasies about being fed on, you’re going for the neck,” Lance interrupted immediately, leaning against the wall. “I mean, if you’re okay with that. I, uh…” They cleared their throat, embarrassed.    
  
“Of course I’m alright with it, or else I wouldn’t have asked which you preferred,” Adam said gently as he stepped forward and pressed Lance into the wall, slipping his arms around Lance to hold them steady. “Neck it is. Right or left?”   
  
“Uh.” Lance swallowed, legs shaking slightly with the intensity of the tension between them. Their heart pounded against their ribcage, practically begging to escape, and Adam heard every frantic beat. “My right?”   
  
Adam dipped his head, nosing at the crook of Lance’s neck, feeling more than hearing the way Lance groaned and tilted his head over to allow Adam more access.   
  
“I told you it was intimate,” Adam whispered, chuckling at the choked laugh Lance gave. “One last chance to back out.”   
  
“No. Freaking. Way. Bite me.”   
  
“As you wish.”   
  
His fangs sank deep into Lance’s neck without another thought. The blood flooded his mouth instantly and he began drinking deeply, eyes sliding shut. Lance trembled in his arms, breathing shallowly. He was quietly thankful that Lance had only inhaled sharply at the pain of his fangs sliding home and hadn’t jerked. That would have made things more messy than he could’ve handled. After a few moments, Lance’s sweet blood blended with a new taste, one Adam had never tasted before. He paused for barely half a second to inhale through his nose reflexively, and his eyes popped open as he realized, combined with the scent, what the taste was.

  
_ Arousal. _   
  
And it tasted  _ so. good. _ He swallowed another mouthful, pressing closer, drinking more deeply. He couldn’t get enough of it. Too soon, his belly was full and he reluctantly pulled back, licking over the marks to soothe the quick healing. Too late, he realized that what he’d done may have counted as a kind of sexual assault and he jumped back, eyes wide.   
  
Lance was looking at him, pupils blown wide with lust, even as they tilted their head in confusion, breathing a little heavy. “You okay? You look like you saw a ghost. Oh, God,  _ did _ a ghost spy on us just now?”   
  
Adam giggled helplessly. “No, not at all, just… Were you really alright with me feeding on you when it caused such a … reaction?”   
  
Lance blinked. “Oh… Shit, you… Um. You knew I felt…” They rubbed the back of their neck, blushing profusely. “Um. Aroused?”   
  
Adam nodded. “Yes, I could taste it. And smell it.”   
  
“Ah… shit. I’m sorry,” Lance winced, “I didn’t mean to make you feel awkward, I didn’t think I’d  _ actually _ react that way, I mean, I knew I did when I read stories about it, but like, there’s a difference between finding something hot in like, fanfiction and real life?”   
  
“No, no,  _ I’m  _ alright, I’m worried about you. I just… kept going, even knowing what it was doing to you, and you hadn’t consented to that…” Adam trailed off, taking a step back.    
  
“Oh, no! No, it’s… I mean? You couldn’t exactly stop without endangering both of us, you needed to eat, and it’s not like you were, y’know, putting your hand down my pants to get more of the… taste in my blood.” Lance smiled sheepishly. “I’m fine, I promise.”   
  
“If you’re sure. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”   
  
“Ah, I had you pegged for a softy.” Lance grinned. “So—”

“My my. Adam, my darling, what are you doing hiding such a  _ scrumptious  _ boy from me like this?” The newcomer sauntered into the alley, smirking and acting like he’d just gone on the catwalk. “I could smell your consorting a block away. And you’re in my territory, dove.”   
  
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, and Lance frowned.   
  
“Hey, I’m not a boy,” they protested, waving their finger in the guy’s face, “And what business of this is yours?”   
  
“Adam’s my husband.”   
  
“....Oh.” Lance turned on their heel and glared at Adam. “This whole time you just stalked me when you had a husband you could’ve been feeding from?”   
  
“Werewolf blood is poisonous to vampires.” Adam raised a brow. “If I had even a drop of Lotor’s blood, I’d die quickly and painfully.”   
  
“Oh, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, darling. Remember our first meeting?”   
  
“How could I forget? Okay, it’s more like five drops, but it’s better not to risk it at all.”   
  
“Unless I’m dying, of course.”   
  
“Of course,” Lance echoed, completely confused. “Wait, if you’re married, why do you care about territory disputes so much?”   
  
“If we’re not careful and put up a good front, our… relatives, shall we say, might get a little suspicious and come to check things out. Ensure we aren’t going against the social order.” Lotor rolled his eyes.   
  
Lance nodded, completely understanding. “Yeah, I get that. So, like, do you guys have to fight now, or something?”   
  
“No, we, well,  _ I _ have to leave now that I’ve been noticed,” Adam said, “it’s probably for the best that you go home as well. I could walk you home, if you wish.”   
  
Lance shrugged. “I mean, you could still be an evil bastard or something,” they pointed out, “But you could have, like, done something else by now, too, I guess, so why not.”   
  
Adam chuckled. “Good to know you’re looking out for yourself,” he said dryly.   
  
Lotor smiled, shaking his head, and kissed Adam softly. “Stay safe. Keep them safe, too. Come home to me, love.”   
  
“I plan on it,  _ k’lavlav, _ ” Adam murmured, rubbing his nose against Lotor’s and inhaling deeply. “We’ll be fine.”   
  
Lance looked away, feeling like they were intruding on something very intimate. The two were so sweet with each other, and their heart ached to have something like that.   
  
“Let’s go, Lance,” Adam said, pulling away from Lotor and nudging Lance gently.   
  
Lance nodded, not speaking, and started down the path back down towards their apartment building. It was a pretty silent walk, with Lance struggling with their inner turmoil. What were they supposed to do with this information? Did Adam plan on coming back to feed from them again? Would they end up trapped? What if Adam just… never came back? Lance would just live their whole life with this knowledge and nothing he could do about it?   
  
All their questions were answered when Adam came to a stop not far from Lance’s apartment. He looked Lance dead in the eye, and Lance felt the strange feeling from before wash over him.   
  
“You won’t remember anything about me or Lotor this night,” he said, a flash of red in his dark brown eyes, “Vampires and werewolves are nothing more than bedtime stories. Go to bed now, Lance.”   
  
Lance nodded, obeying quickly, feeling like they were in some dream-like state as they climbed the stairs and unlocked their unit. Sleep called to them quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next chapter will be rather Lance-centric because I can do all my exposition a lot easier that way, hah. We'll return to Adam soon!

Lance groaned as they woke up, feeling a massive headache. “Fuck. Ow.” Scowling to themselves, they crawled out of bed and slithered to the bathroom to splash cool water on their face.    
  
As they examined their face in the mirror, trying to gauge how they felt today, they noticed the… hickey?? Was that a hickey? It looked so weird… Gasping as he touched it, the memory of last night flooded back and he blinked.    
  
“Okay,” he muttered, “Boy day and… I met a vampire and his werewolf husband last night. What the  _ fuck. _ Didn’t he say I wasn’t supposed to remember? He cast a spell? What’s… Did he do it wrong? No, I felt the effects… Fuck. If his magic is fucked up, he needs to know. Shit. How am I gonna find him?”   
  
Heaving a big sigh, he started his daily routine, grateful that his headache had disappeared as the memory had popped into his head. At least today was an off day. He walked down to Starbucks, keeping an eye out for that tan skin and sandy hair. The sun was out, so he doubted he’d run into the guy anytime soon, but that still didn’t stop the disappointment he felt when he didn’t see Adam.   
  
He went about his day, heading back to the apartment to record some videos, and before he knew it, the sun was down again, for the most part. Just the edge of sunset was left, and since it was only about eight at night, he decided he could go for some more coffee and pull an all-nighter with more videos.    
  
As he started walking to the Starbucks again, he paused when a flash of sandy hair caught his eye. He turned quickly and yes, there were the glasses and that was definitely Adam. He hurried over to catch him in the crowd and gently tapped his shoulder.    
  
“Hey, Adam,” he greeted as Adam turned, “Listen, something’s wrong—”   
  
Adam’s look of sheer terror cut Lance off and he blinked. In that moment, Adam was gone in a flash—well, not a flash, really, as that would be noticeable, but he blended into the shadows and was gone instantaneously.   
  
Lance blinked again and he spun around, trying to see if he could spot Adam again, but he was well and truly gone.  _ Yikes on bikes.  _ What had he done to scare Adam off? Was there something Adam had seen Lance hadn’t? What if Adam was in danger?   
  
The questions swirled in his mind and his feet automatically carried him back towards Starbucks, and, getting his usual order, he went to look for an empty seat.   
  
Spying Lotor, of all people, changed his mind about an empty seat and he went and plonked himself across from the werewolf, who’d raised his brows at the intrusion.   
  
“Aren’t you the little scamp from last night?”   
  
“Yup. Adam said I wouldn’t remember, but I do, and when I went to find him, he… like, teleported away or something.”   
  
Lotor blinked. “Oh. That explains why he hasn’t shown up for our coffee date.”   
  
Lance blushed. “Sorry, man. I was trying to help, but he just went  _ poof _ and when I saw you, I figured… Hey, someone I could talk to? Because I don’t know anyone else from this… scene?”   
  
Lotor snorted slightly at Lance’s attempt of keeping who they were under wraps and remained silent, staring at Lance.   
  
Taking the cue, he continued, “Well, I mean, uh, clearly Adam didn’t want me to remember, right? And like, I mean, if something’s up with his magic or something, then you guys should like, know? Before he feeds on someone again and it doesn’t work again but this time it’s someone who might have a grudge or something, and, like, yeah. So I tried to tell Adam it didn’t work but he just left, so I’m telling you now, and I’m really worried about him because I don’t want him to get hurt...” Lance finally trailed off and shrank in his seat, clutching his cup of coffee close.   
  
Lotor leaned forward, chin in hand, eyes narrowed as he stared into Lance's Very Soul (or, at least, it felt very much like that to Lance, and he really didn’t want to know the answer to the question “could supernatural beings actually perceive his soul” right now). "Why? Why seek to correct our error when you could have so easily blackmailed us? Why worry so much about people whom you’ve never met before last night?"   
  
"....Uh..... because I'm not an asshole?" Lance blinked. "I mean, you've... stayed hidden for a reason and if something is happening to break down the barriers your kind have built up, then, like, you need to know about it? So you can fix it? And stay safe? As far as I can tell, you guys are pretty normal, just with certain, uh.... afflictions." He snickered. "And like, the government kidnapping a bunch of you is the last thing I want? You're just... innocent people trying to live your lives as quietly as possible."   
  
Surprise flickered across Lotor’s face and he leaned in some more, sniffing the air deeply.   
  
“Uh, what… Whatcha doing there, Professor Lupin?”   
  
“Trying to smell if you’re lying or not,” he replied distractedly, before he jerked back and stared at Lance in even greater surprise than before. “I’m  _ sorry?” _   
  
Lance swallowed nervously. “Professor Lupin? Like the werewolf from  _ Harry Potter _ ?” he explained hesitantly, “Or, I mean, the guy with the furry little problem?”   
  
Lotor stared at Lance for a solid ten seconds before his lips twitched upward and he chuckled. “That is a first. And I must say, I rather like being compared to him over Fenrir Greyback.”   
  
Lance shuddered. “Ugh, yeah,  _ no way. _ You’re, well, I mean? You’ve been pretty… well, not exactly nice, but definitely cool-headed. So.” He shrugged. “Did I pass the sniff test? I promise I wore clean clothes today.”   
  
Lotor barked a laugh. “You  _ are _ a funny one,” he said, and nodded, “This is… a serious concern. Have you any plans for the rest of your evening?”   
  
Lance shook his head. “Nope. I made sure I was open so I could figure out what was going on with you guys. And, y’know, make sure that the memory wipe thing gets to go right?”   
  
“You  _ want _ your memory wiped?”   
  
“Well, no. But I mean, if you guys think it’s for the best… I’m still just a stranger to you guys, and no matter how much I say I just wish I could know and never tell anyone and maybe get a chance to get to know you guys and find out everything I can doesn’t mean anything about you trusting me or that I wouldn’t betray you later or something, like if I got captured and tortured.”   
  
“Why do you think you would be captured and tortured?” Lotor asked, bemused.   
  
Lance threw his hands in the air. “I dunno! I mean, besides the government, I’m sure you’ve got enemies. Everyone’s got enemies whether they know of them or not. Which is, by the way,  _ absolutely terrifying _ even  _ before _ you add in all the supernatural steroids.”   
  
Lotor chuckled softly. “You’re right. I do have enemies. Dangerous ones.” His eyes glinted. “But if we were to… pardon the expression, but if we were to keep you, we would also make sure you stayed safe.”   
  
He scooted back his chair and stood, gesturing for Lance to follow. “Come. I have a friend who can help us find Adam.”   
  
“Wait, why are you trusting me?” Lance asked, befuddled, even as he got up and trailed after Lotor.   
  
Lotor glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Because,” he said evenly, “This whole time you’ve been telling the truth. You want to help us. I’m giving you the opportunity. And perhaps… We won’t even have to erase your memory after all. That all depends, of course, on Adam, so let’s find him quickly and get to the bottom of this mystery.”   
  
“Uh… Yeah.” Lance couldn’t help but skip a little bit — whaaat, this was exciting! — and he grinned widely. Tonight was going even better than he thought it would. He just hoped they would find Adam quickly. Lotor  _ had _ mentioned “dangerous enemies”, and Lance didn’t want to be responsible for Adam going missing  _ and  _ getting hurt. Bad enough it was one of those.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, last exposition dump before we return our focus to Adam!

Okay, so Lance had definitely not expected a huge fuck-off mansion on the edge of town, but he kept following Lotor as he went up and rang the bell twice.  
  
The door opened and Lotor swept in, with Lance following cautiously. Inside, it was brightly lit, every decoration making the place seem warm, inviting, and homey. Much less like some spooky vampire den that he’d anticipated after they had pulled up at the mansion.   
  
“Uh… Nobody answered the door,” he said after a moment.  
  
Lotor nodded. “It’s part of Shiro’s spells on his home. The bell is meant to recognize when it’s someone he trusts, like me. I ring it twice and the door opens on its own, in case he’s too deep in the house to get to the door quickly.” He shut the door behind them.  
  
“Huh. Cool.”  
  
“I’m in the kitchen!” a voice called out from seemingly nowhere, making Lance jump.  
  
Lotor chuckled, gesturing to the little speaker next to the door. He pressed the button on it. “We’ll be right there!”  
  
Weaving through the foyer and then a parlour, they made their way into the kitchen, with Lance feeling quite awkward. Like he wasn’t supposed to be here.  
  
Shiro looked over at them from the stove as he stirred the pot on it, a cookbook of some kind floating in the air nearby, ingredients scattered over the counters. He tapped the spoon he was stirring with and set it to stir on its own so that he could wipe his hands on a dishcloth and push his glasses up his nose with a grin.  
  
“Hey, Lotor. What’s with the surprise visit? And guest who isn’t Adam?” he asked, waving at Lance.  
  
Lance shyly waved back, eyes wide as he looked at the small evidences of _actual magic._   
  
“This is Lance, Adam’s…” Lotor coughed lightly. “From last night somehow resisted the memory spell and came back to tell us about it. They were extremely worried about magic failing and wanted to protect us.”  
  
Lance blinked. Oh, right, he had said last night he wasn’t a boy. Ah, now wasn’t the time to explain how he really felt, Lotor was respecting him (which he hadn’t expected), and they needed to focus on finding Adam.  
  
“Yeah, he just up and vanished when I went out and found him today,” he said, when it became clear Lotor was done talking, “Then I ran into Lotor and he said you would know how to find Adam.”  
  
Shiro nodded. “Well, cooking up the spellwork for a 'find Adam' charm shouldn't take too long. You know where everything is, _migadi_.” He gave Lance a small smile. “Since you're here with Lotor? _Mi casa, su casa_.”

He bustled around the kitchen, rounding up some of the ingredients that were scattered on the counters while Loto got new ones out. Shiro gestured at different things, telling Lance about them. “The teapot’s magically self-heating, if you want any. Boxes of tea bags—or loose leaves and infusers for them—are in the cupboard over the sink. Any other time, I’d offer to give you some insight with tasseomancy, but. Not until we've got Adam back. And if you’re hungry, there's all kinds of stuff in the cupboards over the toaster, the fridge, and the freezer. The bowl of shiitake udon is my grandfather's old recipe, so I’m biased, but I think it’s pretty good.”   
  
“Thanks.” Lance still felt a little weird about being in a stranger’s house with another almost-stranger, and nearly every instinct in him was screaming to run, but there was still one little voice underneath it all whispering that people like this could be trusted, that these supernaturals in particular could be trusted. So he opened the fridge and gave the udon a little taste test before humming and putting it into the microwave to reheat it.   
  
“If it tastes good cold, it’ll taste even more amazing warm,” he said lightheartedly, watching the two men scramble around the kitchen. He opted to get a glass of water, scared of trying to touch anything magical, and settled himself at the table. “So, you’re really a witch, huh?”   
  
“Yup,” Shiro said cheerfully, “And despite what the pants say, no, I didn’t go to Hogwarts.”   
  
Lance leaned around his chair and peered at Shiro’s Hufflepuff-themed pajama pants. “Nice. I’m a Slytherin,” he replied with a grin, digging into the food. “So where  _ did _ you learn magic, then?”   
  
Shiro nodded as he laid out a map of the town on the table. “I learned a lot of what I know from my mom, my aunt, and my grandmother. The spell I'm gonna use to find Adam is one that's been passed down through Obaasan's family for generations. Like, she has some versions of it that are written on scrolls that Hii-Obaasan Himeko brought with her when she left Osaka and came to the States.”   
  
Lotor handed Shiro what appeared to be one of Adam’s fangs on a necklace. With a nod of thanks, Shiro flipped to the right page in his grimoire and set the bowl of herbs they’d prepared next to the map. A few chants and a bowl of plants on fire later, the fang swinging from Shiro’s grip flung itself away and pierced through the map into the table. Lotor scooped up the bowl of burning herbs and dumped it in the sink full of water.   
  
“Disabled the fire alarms?” Lance asked, clinging tightly to the bowl of shiitake udon, as if it would have saved him from a sudden house fire.   
  
“Nah, I just tweaked them so they’re slightly less sensitive than most. You know, the kind that go off because some moron microwaved instant ramen without adding water.”   
  
“ _ Migadi, _ that moron is you.”   
  
“Did I say it wasn’t?”   
  
Lotor snorted, peering at the map and ignoring Shiro’s shit-eating grin. He sighed heavily, and Shiro’s grin dropped as he sighed, too.   
  
“Edie’s again?”   
  
“Yes,” Lotor murmured, taking the fang and stringing it on his neck again.    
  
“Keith still can’t believe they haven’t sold that place off yet. Even with it being in, y’know, River Park.”   
  
Lotor shrugged. “I, for one, am grateful. Our twenty-third anniversary is soon and I was thinking of buying it for Adam. Anyhow, I’ll be off. Hopefully I’ll be back soon with Adam, or at least headed home with him. I’ll text you, Shiro.”   
  
Shiro nodded. “Of course. Go get your mopey vampire.”   
  
Lotor rolled his eyes affectionately and strode away.   
  
Lance waited until he figured Lotor had left (wow, he couldn’t hear the front door from here…) to speak up. “Um. Nice to meet you. Sorry, I seem to have been dumped into your lap.” He smiled sheepishly.    
  
“Ah, you’re fine. It’s nice to meet new people every once in a while.”   
  
“Even though it’s late at night?”   
  
Shiro shrugged, putting the map away and cleaning his herb bowl. “I’m used to being up late. My boyfriend is practically nocturnal.”   
  
Lance chuckled. “Well, I… Uh… boyfriend? Um, I’m not intruding on anything, am I?”   
  
“Not at all,” Shiro said easily, sitting down at the table with some freshly brewed tea, “Keith is at work. He won’t be home for a few hours.”   
  
“Cool, cool…” He trailed off, wondering what to talk about. “So, uh… JKR’s a total bitch, right?”  _ FATAL ERROR!! DUMBASS!! _ _   
_ _   
_ “Oh, definitely. She actually blocked me on Twitter,” Shiro said, leaning forward eagerly. “Like, she probably uses a block-chain or something, but. There were a lot of angry tweet-essays about why the Crimes of Grindelwald backstory for Nagini is super fucked up, and then Keith stole my phone and let Adam and Lotor hold it hostage, and then during JKR's last dust-up of stupidity, I went to look at the tweets live, and the app was all, 'Yeah, you're blocked though.'”   
  
Lance huffed a little in amusement, grinning. “Wow, blocked by a well-known celeb. You’re a hero. But yeah, like…” He trailed off again, gesturing wildly with his free hand. “What absolute  _ nonsense, _ right? Racist, a total TERF, stupid tokenism by going ‘oh but Dumbledore gay doooooe’ as if it matters when it wasn’t actually in the story, and then, like.  _ The goblins. _ Fuckin’, like, talk about antisemitic, right?”   
  
Shiro nodded, rolling his eyes and groaning loudly. “It’s so dumb. Like, the world is still amazing, and it’s fun to play with? I mean, I write a lot of fanfiction? But… It’s got a lot of messed up foundation.”   
  
“Yeah — Oh, my  _ God, _ you write fanfiction?” Lance beamed. “Me too! Dude, okay, Harry/Draco is so good, right?”   
  
Shiro wrinkled his nose and Lance’s heart skipped a beat. Oh, he’d fucked up.   
  
“Eh, I can see why it’s so popular, but… Draco’s a spoiled whiny brat.” Shiro shrugged. “Not really my thing. Harry/Cedric, on the other hand?”   
  
“Oh,  _ fuck yeah!  _ Multishipper here. I can’t be happy with just one,” Lance said with a chuckle, “Not that I have anything against monoshippers? But, like. I’m just trying to say that I like a lot of ships so we probably have some overlap we can enjoy talking about together.”   
  
“I get it.” Shiro paused for a second, looking over the rim of his glasses at Lance with a smile.   
  
….And Lance had run out of steam. There was only so much he could salt about. And he didn’t want the whole night to be a bunch of salt. There had to be some fun in it, too.   
  
“So, like… Being a witch? Is it like, genetic, or can anyone learn it, or what?” he decided to ask, figuring it was a relatively safe topic to move onto.   
  
“Well, there is a bit of a genetic component? As in, you have to be predisposed to it—which was actually part of how Obaasan's mother came to the States? Uh.” Shiro ducked his chin and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Hii-Obaasan Himeko wanted to get out of Osaka anyway, for herself. But her family went looking for husbands of good, magical stock—preferably Japanese—who weren't from around there. Because the old magical families in Osaka are, uh.”

He motioned for Lance to follow (nodding at the silent question when Lance lifted the bowl of food from the table), then for him to sit on the couch while Shiro went and got a pair of rather large, fairly old-looking hardback books off the shelf, one bound in red and the other bound in black. “I don't have a Black family tapestry to show off about this, but…” He opened the red book and flipped to a pretty intricate, very intermarried-looking, and rather extensive family tree, then pointed at an old photo of Himeko down in one corner. “So, there she is. Chiba Himeko, nee Shirakami Himeko. And all these interwoven criss-crossing lines mean that all of her marriage prospects in Osaka were cousins or uncles, sometimes both, usually multiple times over. Oh, and then…”

He shifted to point at another young lady's photo, next to Himeko's. “Her older sister Keiko married a very nice man from Kyoto—one, Inamori Kazuya, who is actually…” He huffed as he flipped through the black book for another elaborate family tree, then pointed at an old photograph of Kazuya. “My Mom's uncle—by marriage, technically, but still. This behavior was worst in Osaka? But far from exclusive to Osaka. Because you gotta keep the magical potential in the blood, right? Or so they say.”   
  
He shrugged. “Not that intermarrying like that covers everything. I mean, some people in these family trees didn't have any magical potential—so, our Squibs, basically. Then, you have some people like my Dad, who have the potential but don't have the interest or the desire to actually learn how magic works and how to use it. He was more interested in disassembling radios and things to figure out how they worked. One time, when he was like nine, Obaasan had to stop him from taking apart their TV.”   
  
Lance had quietly continued eating as Shiro explained, and whined softly when his fork came up empty. “Ah, uh, sorry? I was listening, I swear, and then I realized the food was gone, and…” He shook his head at himself. “Sorry, But uh, wow. That sure is… Yeah.”   
  
Shiro snorted a bit. “Yeah, it’s a lot to take in. Sorry for dumping it all on you like that,” he said with an apologetic smile.   
  
“Eh, no biggie.” Lance set the empty bowl on the coffee table and scooted closer. “Your dad sounds like he was a little troublemaker as a kid, hah. So it's, like, passed down, sort of? Is it like the X gene at all and spontaneously appears in random kids? Like Muggleborns, I guess, or does it have to be like, a witch within the last four generations or something like that?”   
  
Shiro’s eyebrows shot up. “Got it in one, actually. The magical potential skips generations all the time. Then, if people break off from the main branches of their families and lose touch with the magical lore or something, it can look like you have a Muggleborn cropping up? But if you trace back from any given witch, you can always find another witchy ancestor within four generations.”   
  
Then he sighed and looked wistfully over at a few scrolls hanging by the window with their slightly messy hand-painted kanji. “Dad was a troublemaker, yeah. He didn't have anything on Mom, though. Part of the reason they actually got to marry for love—and into a family with impressive magical lineage and a basically garbage reputation—was that Mom flat-out refused to play by a lot of the rules she'd grown up with in Kyoto's magical high society. So, she smoked a bunch of her marriage prospects. Her parents and brothers kinda hated my Dad, but at least he was  _ Japanese _ -American and came from solid magical stock.”   
  
“Aww. That's so awesome, though. I mean, that your parents got to marry for love, not that your mom’s side of the family was… So narrow-minded.” Lance frowned. “I just… can't comprehend being in that kind of community where arranged marriages are such a big thing, even with magic involved. I can understand wanting to marry other magical individuals, to increase the chance of passing it on? But…” He sighed. “I dunno, I've just never liked the idea of… forced love. It may have worked out for Queen Clarisse of Genovia and her sweet husband, but I'm with Princess Mia.”

Shrugging, he continued, “I  _ am _ glad it worked out for your grandparents, though.” He heaved another sigh. “None of my family have ever mentioned anything about magic, so I doubt I've got some grandparent or other who was magical. My family never shuts up and can't keep secrets worth a damn. I’ve always hoped I would end up secretly something magical and cool, y’know? Being a plain human with no extras isn’t… fun. Or interesting. And, like, in every story ever, it’s always the human being protected by the supernaturals cause they’re fragile and weak and stuff like that.”   
  
“In fairness, arranged marriages were more of a cultural Thing in Japan until very recently. So, that part wasn't really seen as weird or out of the ordinary; everyone mostly just expected it. The intermarriage, though? That made some people pause.” Shiro gave him a small smile. “Just because you may not be magical yourself doesn't mean you can't stay in with the supernaturals, if you want to, Lance. Even some of the most pro-isolationism magical families don't do that, and frankly, we can't survive, as people and communities, without letting new people in. And being a plain human doesn’t mean you’re fragile or weak, either. After all, without people like you, vampires couldn’t feed, and they’d die out. I mean, they’re only deathly allergic to werewolf blood? But it’s a lot easier to cast spells on humans like you instead of humans that are also witches, because we detect the magic easier, and this probably isn’t helping my ‘you’re not weak’ argument, is it?”   
  
Lance snorted, hiding his grin behind his hand for all the good it did and he was giggling. “No, but it does make me feel pretty important. Part of the food chain, how nice.”   
  
Shiro shook his head with a laugh of his own. “You have your own strengths. You just don’t see them yet.”   
  
“Well, they better manifest noticeably soon,” Lance whined. “Oh, hey. On the slight chance that, say, maybe my great-grandma or someone left the magical world on purpose for whatever reason and kept her magical heritage a secret, and I might actually have, y'know, magical potential, how would we test that?”   
  
Shiro inhaled deeply and cringed a bit. “Magical potential usually manifests in childhood or early adolescence. And, uh. Some of the tests that people have written about running are really dangerous. Like, you know how Neville Longbottom’s family did stuff like dangle him out windows and shove him off piers?”   
  
Lance winced. “Oh, geez. Yeah. Big yikes. I'm guessing it could be even worse." He hummed in thought. “As long as we keep coming back to Harry Potter, is there anything... obscurial-like? Or at least, cases of someone suppressing their magic due to horrible circumstances and then, hopefully, getting out of it and working towards bettering themselves? Because I honestly do not want people to be suffering like that. And I definitely wouldn't want to be one of them.” He chuckled slightly. “I don’t think I could be, considering I’ve been wishing to be a witch or a mermaid or something my whole life anyway.”

Shiro pondered for a moment, giving Lance's question actual thought, before shaking his head. “I’ve never heard of anything like the obscurials existing in real life, no. Or in any of the lore I've encountered that's like, 'We can't verify if this ever really happened or not. It might have, but there's no way of knowing.' There are a lot of myths about people trying to steal magic, but…’ He sighed. “I agree with my grandparents and Aunt Satomi: if you look at the historical contexts of those myths? Most of them really are just propaganda, usually advocating for either magical supremacy or completely segregating ourselves from non-supernatural people. There's one that Obaasan reads as a screed about radical witch separatism, like even breaking off from vampires and werewolves, as though that ever helped anyone.”   
  
“Of course not.” Lance rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. “Never really worked out for non-supernaturals either.”   
  
That made Shiro laugh slightly, and Lance felt, rather oddly, right at home here.


	4. Chapter 4

While Shiro educated Lance about the supernatural world, Adam sat in the closed down 50s themed diner, in the booth closest to the jukebox. Nothing was on, and the front door was boarded up. Faint light from the streetlights filtered in through the blinds, but that was the only light source. Still, it made Adam feel somewhat at home, here. Dwelling on the past instead of what he’d done here in the present sounded infinitely better.  
  
Flashes of memories flowed through his mind and he turned to the side, pulling his legs up onto the seat and curling them into his chest.  
  
 _Mom and Dad telling him about how they’d hidden during the Holocaust… Mom and Dad stressing that telling people they were Jewish could still get him killed…_ Besides the bad ones, there was good, too. _Mom and Dad taking him and his brother to diners just like this while they were kids, giving them dimes for the jukeboxes and sharing milkshakes. Playing on the tire swing in their backyard. Celebrating his birthday with his family. The last one he got to_ ** _really_** _have before being kidnapped by a vampire and doomed to walk the Earth for eternity. The torture, the screams that haunted his dreams, the_ ** _pain_** —  
  
Gulping, he supposed to himself that maybe dwelling on the past was a bad idea, as he clutched at his _magen David_ , trying to draw strength from it. He was sitting in the abandoned Edie’s Diner, in Blue Springs, Vermont. He wasn’t back with Honerva, trapped by her, or anything like that. Inhaling deeply and slowly, he couldn’t help but to focus on the present with this panic attack he narrowly avoided, which… Would probably end up with himself in another one.  
  
A rattling in the kitchen made him jump, and he almost shadow-traveled away until the hot, musky scent of his werewolf husband blended into the area and he relaxed a little bit.  
  
“There you are, my darling. You must stop breaking into here, you know,” Lotor said as he strode in, sitting next to Adam in the booth.  
  
“S’not breaking in if you own the place,” Adam quipped.  
  
“...What?”  
  
“I bought this place not too long ago. Planning on refurbishing it.”  
  
Lotor groaned loudly. “You’ve ruined my anniversary gift,” he whined, “I was planning on buying this old place and refurbishing it for you as a gift for our anniversary.”  
  
Adam laughed softly, shaking his head as the warmth bloomed in his chest. Lotor just… had a knack for making him feel better, even when he got like this.   
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“I deserve an extension. Because now I must figure out something else entirely,” Lotor said with an air of pomp.  
  
“Naturally,” Adam said, a smile tugging on his lips, “I won’t hold it against you, _k’lavlav.”_   
  
“Good.” Lotor nudged Adam’s knees, and he let them fall to the floor, shifting to lean into Lotor’s side. “I love you, _migadye._ Very much. What happened to make you run off like this?”  
  
“I’m broken,” Adam said with a very matter-of-fact tone.  
  
Lotor’s eyebrows shot into his hairline. “According to whom?”  
  
Adam sighed softly. “Myself and that kid I couldn’t spell correctly. They remember what happened last night, Lotor. My magic is broken. They weren’t supposed to be able to remember. What if I’ve just doomed us?”  
  
“Darling, after you disappeared on him, Lance came to find me, quite distressed, and explained how they wanted to make sure you were okay and to let me know that your magic had failed. Even offered up trying again so that they wouldn’t remember. Lance was…” Lotor paused. “Very, very worried about the entire world discovering our kind and getting you hurt because of themselves. Apparently, according to them, getting kidnapped and having the information tortured out of them was a serious concern.”  
  
Adam couldn’t hold back a soft snort. “I think they’ve read too many silly books,” he said, leaning more into Lotor’s side.  
  
Lotor slipped his arm around Adam’s shoulders and pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head. “Mm, perhaps. I’ve left them with Shiro. Probably driving our poor witch absolutely nuts with all their questions, but he deserves a little payback after that prank of his a few weeks ago.”  
  
“You’re making me feel better,” Adam griped with a smile on his lips, “But you’re right. That little truth charm of his…” He trailed off with a huff. “Even if it is true that the way you get flustered after you burp or fart is cute.”  
  
Lotor turned bright red. “You’re an ass,” he said, sticking out his tongue, “Even if it is true that the way you get heated over people putting ketchup on their latkes is adorable.”  
  
Adam rolled his eyes and laughed. “They shouldn’t!” he insisted, eyes now bright and happy, “And I _will_ fight Keith next time I see him, I swear.”  
  
“Please don’t,” Lotor said with a snicker, “I cannot deal with Shiro moping at me over it.”  
  
“...Alright, I won’t, but only because you asked so nicely.” He nuzzled into Lotor’s shoulder. “... So Lance really came to find you, worried about government kidnappings?”  
  
“Oh, not just government kidnappings. I think they were under the impression we operated with some kind of Volturi arrangement.”  
  
“Don’t you _dare_ bring up those _Twilight_ books—”  
  
“Or,” Lotor said, cutting Adam off with a roll of his eyes, “Rival packs or enemy vampires. Of which we have many. Valid concerns, no?”  
  
“...I’ll give them that,” he said grudgingly, “That was… sweet of Lance. To be so worried about us. You didn’t detect any malice? Ulterior motives? They didn’t want to blackmail us or anything?”  
  
Lotor shook his head. “Nothing like that at all. They were just worried about us and us getting hurt because they’d squeal like a pig under torture.”  
  
“...Well.”  
  
Lotor gave Adam a sly look.  
  
“What’s that look for?”  
  
“You think they’re cute,” Lotor said in a sing-song voice.  
  
Adam sighed heavily. “I think they are very, very brave for what they did. And kind. Nothing more.” His eyes cast downward as he sagged, the sadness from earlier coming back like a physical weight draped over him.  
  
“...You don’t wish to be hurt again,” Lotor said knowingly, “I’m not saying you have to rush into anything. I only meant to tease, darling.” He nuzzled Adam’s neck gently. “I think Lance might turn out to be a good friend, no matter what else may happen. They’re… intriguing.”  
  
“Yes. And… It’s probably good we have them on our side,” Adam supposed, “Because now we can start testing what’s wrong with my magic.”  
  
“There you go. I’m quite curious to see as well.”  
  
“Mhm. Especially since my calm spell worked on them. Why not the memory spell?” Adam mused, shaking his head. “We’ll only get answers if we experiment. Would you like to travel back to Shiro’s house with me?”  
  
Lotor grimaced, but nodded.  
  
Adam’s lips quirked up a little. “I know it doesn’t feel very nice. I’m sorry.”  
  
“Let’s just get it over with. The quicker, the better.” Lotor gripped Adam’s arm and shut his eyes tightly.  
  
Adam chuckled softly and concentrated, blending into the shadows and taking Lotor with him, ignoring the slimy feeling as the shadows compressed around them and pushed them to the dark side of Shiro’s porch. It was impolite to just show up in the middle of Shiro’s house, standing invitation in or not.  
  
Adam hummed softly to himself as they simply walked in, knowing Shiro had been expecting them. “We’re back!” he called as he moved towards the kitchen at Lotor’s gesture.  
  
Lance poked their head out from the kitchen and Adam blinked.  
  
“Why on Earth are you _green?”_ he asked dumbfoundedly.  
  
“Shiro’s been casting spells for my entertainment,” they said casually, with a wide grin, “He’s super cool. I’m glad you’re okay!”  
  
“Er,” Adam fumbled for words, “Yes, I… Thank you.”  
  
Shiro muttered another spell and Lance’s skin returned to normal. Lance thanked Shiro quickly and then bounded up to Adam with a pensieve, anxious look.  
  
“So, um…”  
  
“I don’t want to erase your memory,” Adam said quickly.  
  
“Oh, thank goodness,” Lance said softly, “I mean, not that, like? I would have totally respected your decision, but like? This is? Really nice? Of you? And, um.” They swallowed heavily. “So, yeah, thanks. Uh, so Shiro and I have actually been doing some mild magical experimentation? To figure out what was going on?”  
  
Shiro slid up to them all, having put away some of this things. “Yeah. Of course, Adam, Lotor, we’ll need you to do a few things, but we have a… really, really weird suspicion.”  
  
Adam blinked. “Well, alright.”  
  
Lance rose up on their toes, eyes gleaming. “It might be really cool. So, I’ll go back and sit down at the table, since Shiro said that most magic should be pretty safe in there and it’s easier to replace a fridge or a dishwasher than a couch that matches the decor.”  
  
Lotor snorted and Shiro smiled sheepishly.  
  
“It’s true,” he said insistently.  
  
“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” Lotor said mildly.  
  
Adam rolled his eyes. “You are all going to be the death of me.”  
  
“You’re already dead,” Lance chirped, “Or, wait, is that r… Uh, would it be racist or speciest?”  
  
“....Monster-ist?" Shiro offered. "Unless 'monster' itself is... a...uh... creatureist term? No, creature makes it worse, somehow, uh, supernaturalist?”  
  
Lance stifled a laugh.  
  
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, Lance, it’s not speciest,” he said dryly, “Anyway…”  
  
“Right. Spells.” Lance nodded once and spun on their heel, headed back into the kitchen and plopping backwards into a chair. “Hit me.”  
  
Adam rubbed his chin slightly as he looked over Lance, trying to figure out what would be best. He stared into Lance’s eyes and then decided on manipulating feelings.  
  
Lance trembled as the foreign emotions took hold, making their head droop, but Adam still had a connection. He intensified the fear and anger he was projecting, watching as Lance gasped and gripped the back of the chair hard.  
  
Then, without any warning, Lance lifted their head and relaxed, giving Adam an inquisitive look. “Huh. That… That’s weird. I can still feel… You trying to make me feel awful? But… Like it’s through a fog?”  
  
Adam blinked and dropped the connection. “So it only works for a few moments?”  
  
“Not exactly,” Shiro cut in, “Lance had been green for a good half-hour. It seems that benign and/or mostly harmless magic affects him, but anything else just sort of… sloughs off.”  
  
“Ugh,” Lance said, making a face, “Can you not use that word? Please? I, uh… associate it with some nasty stuff.”  
  
“Sure. Sorry.”  
  
“You didn’t know,” Lance said, waving it off. “So, yeah, I mean, the calm spell worked last night for only a minute, but then it was just me being calm after that. And the memory spell only seemed to work for a bit because you combined it with ‘get sleep’, which is… I guess an innocuous enough command? At least, in context.”  
  
“We’d have to do a lot more testing under different conditions to see if, say, Lance being kidnapped and told to sleep would work, or if it wouldn’t because the context isn’t benign anymore,” Shrio said, “Buuut, that would be unethical. But the memory spell…”  
  
Lance hummed. “I mean, in context, it could have been benign, but I really think it was malicious? I mean, it’s messing with my whole brain. Plus, I really didn’t want to forget.” Lance suddenly clapped their hands together. “Oh! You know, we haven’t really tried, like… Me just straight up resisting all magic on purpose? Because… I kinda wanted to be turned green. It was fun.” They laughed sheepishly.  
  
Adam and Lotor chuckled.   
  
“Fair enough,” Adam said, “So, my spells _are_ pretty limited, but I could try making you a thrall and telling you… Is there anything you want to do right now?”  
  
“Hug a dog?” Lance suggested.  
  
“I don’t have a dog,” Shiro said, shaking his head.  
  
Adam could feel Lotor suppress laughter next to him and barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Thumbing over his ring, he thought, _Don’t you dare say that about Keith where he can hear you._  
  
Lotor smiled, thumbing his own ring. _I won’t. And if Lance wants to hug a dog…_ In the next second, a large white wolf stood in Lotor’s place.  
  
“Whoa! Okay, uh… I guess a wolf will do in place of a dog,” Lance said with a grin. “I mean, if Lotor’s okay with it? If I fail the resisting thing?”  
  
 _If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have shifted._  
  
Adam could hear the accompanying huff and chuckled. “He’s fine with it,” he said, string into Lance’s eyes again.  
  
“Pet the dog,” he suggested, his voice deepening and sounding more hollow as he shifted to command mode.  
  
Lance stood up easily, hand reaching out, but then they stuttered, eyes fluttering, and it rather reminded Adam of a video buffering.  
  
After a few moments, despite Adam’s concentration, Lance broke it, shaking their head vigorously. “Ugh, that felt weird. Especially because I actually wanted to do it, but the being compelled part… Like. Now that I know what it feels like, it’s obvious?”  
  
“You did seem to brush it off quickly. And I’m no slouch at magic,” Adam said. “Must be some kind of natural immunity.”  
  
“Has anyone ever heard of something like that?” Lance asked, crouching in front of Lotor and offering him their hand.  
  
Lotor sniffed it briefly and then ducked his head, accepting the scritches.   
  
“Not that I can think of,” Shiro murmured, “But I’m sure if I talked to Obaasan, she’d have some ideas. She’s a very, very old witch after all. She’s probably heard and forgotten more stories in all her life than I’ll ever hear.”  
  
Lance chuckled at that. “Cool.”  
  
“I’m not too pressed to get to the bottom of this incredibly quickly,” Adam said casually, eyeing Lance and then Shiro, “But I do believe we should find out, Especially with certain people possibly still alive.”  
  
Shiro nodded, and Lance hardly seemed to be paying attention, too busy enjoying petting the large wolf and giggling at Lotor’s antics.  
  
Heavy footsteps made their way to the kitchen and Keith appeared, blinking at their guests.  
  
“Hey, Baby,” Shiro said with a soft smile, stepping over to him and sweeping him into a gentle kiss. “Welcome home.”  
  
Keith chuckled slightly. “Trying to distract me from our guests?” he asked teasingly.  
  
“Noooo,” Shiro said, pouting, “Can’t I just be happy to see you’re home safe?”  
  
“Sure, Starlight, sure.” Keith looked over to Lance, who’d stood up. “You know you’re petting a person?”  
  
Lance blushed. “Yes. I asked him and he was cool with it,” they muttered.  
  
Lotor transformed back into a human, now that Lance wasn’t petting him anymore, and smiled warmly at Keith. “Good to see you.”  
  
“...You’re not gonna go sniff butts or anything, right?” Lance asked, looking wary.  
  
Keith inhaled sharply, baring his teeth and eyes flashing yellow, and Shiro’s hand landed on his shoulder.   
  
“He didn’t mean it like that, Baby. He only found out we existed in the last 24 hours. Ignorance, not malice,” Shiro said gently.  
  
Lance winced. “Sorry, sorry. I, uh. I’m sorry. I spoke without thinking."

Keith inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they were back to their purple. “You’re forgiven, man.”   
  
Adam caught Lotor’s eye, feeling the mental shrug, and decided he’d ask about it later, if Lance wasn’t going to push it now. Lance had been very vehement just last night about their gender, but… It wasn’t his business to butt in right now.   
  
Lance smiled awkwardly. “Thanks, uh. Shiro was telling me about you. And magic. And stuff.”   
  
“Magical sex-capades?” Keith deadpanned.   
  
Shiro blushed a deep red. “Of course not!” he spluttered, ignoring Adam as he doubled over with laughter, “We’ve only just met!”   
  
Lance peered at Shiro, bemused. “Does that mean you planned on telling me your magical kinky adventuress later?”   
  
“No, I just…” Shiro groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”   
  
“I think not,  _ migadi,” _ Lotor said, patting his back.   
  
Adam finally managed to look up, still laughing, catching Lance’s eye as they grinned at him, and feeling his heart skip a beat.  _ Oh, damn it all. _   
  
“Have  _ you _ had magical kinky adventures, Adam?”   
  
Adam groaned.    
  
Lotor snickered, stepping over to sling his arm around Adam’s shoulders. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”   
  
“That’s why I asked,” Lance quipped.   
  
Keith snorted. “Sorry for causing a disaster, I guess,” he said, leaning into Shiro’s side.   
  
“No, it’s fine, Keith,” Adam said with a rueful smile.   
  
“It’s not true friendship until you tell them all about how you tried to use flying magic to fuck in the air and then got so distracted you fell and broke your wrist,” Lance said solemnly.   
  
Shiro blinked. “What the  _ fu _ —HOW did you know???”   
  
“...Shiro, didn’t we bond over Harry Potter fanfiction?”   
  
“....Oh, you were referencing… something… okay…”   
  
Keith huffed, nuzzling at Shiro affectionately. “He’s disconcerted because that’s, uh, startlingly close to something that actually happened to us,” he said a bit dryly.   
  
“...Well, then. Huh.” Lance shook his head, looking back to Adam. “By the way? I’m glad you’re back safe. Wait, I said that, didn’t I?”   
  
“Me too.” Adam smiled. “And it’s fine. It has been rather hectic since I got back.”   
  
Lance checked their watch and winced. “Ugh, it’s getting late. Though, I guess if all y’all are nocturnal, then it’s basically midday for you. I need to be getting home. Work tomorrow, that kinda stuff.”   
  
“Want a ride home?” Adam offered.   
  
“Shadow travel is rather convenient, even if it’s deeply uncomfortable,” Lotor put in, “Naturally, you’d have to invite Adam into your home first for it to work.”   
  
“Well, I suppose we can’t just pop into the lobby like that, no. Might startle the doorman.” Lance snickered. “I mean, since I assume that the lobby of the apartments is… maybe not exactly  _ public _ space in the sense that a restaurant is? But… Uh…”   
  
“I could enter the lobby, yes, but we don’t need to give anybody a heart attack, memory spell or not,” Adam finished, gripping Lance’s shoulder.   
  
“Well then, I welcome you to my home. Now, uh, how does this work?”   
  
“Hold on, don’t let go, and let me do the rest. I’m very serious. Do  _ not _ let go.” Adam looked right into Lance’s eyes, pretending not to notice the way Lance’s heart skipped a beat or the way his breath froze. “Losing you in the middle of the shadows will ensure a very slow, very painful death. You will not be able to exit on your own. And finding you would be practically impossible.”   
  
“Got it,” Lance squeaked, turning slightly and then pressing themself tightly against Adam’s body.   
  
“I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t need to breathe as much as you do,” Adam said dryly as Lance’s arms squeezed him with incredible force for a human. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”   
  
“Good night, everyone,” Lance said, loosening their hold just slightly enough to look back and smile.   
  
Adam took that moment to vanish them away, suppressing his amusement as Lance shuddered in disgust against him. They reappeared in Lance’s living area and Adam gently tapped them on the back.   
  
“We’re here,” he said quietly, “You can let go now.”   
  
Lance shuddered again and slowly unwound their arms from Adam’s torso, stepping back and glancing around cautiously, eyes wide with surprise.   
  
“Wow. This is… that felt really, like, ugh? But it’s  _ so cool.” _ Their eyes sparkled with wonder and amazement, and Adam couldn’t help but chuckle.   
  
It was… an interesting feeling, watching someone get introduced to the world of magic. To see the glow on their faces as they learned that magic was ever-so- _ real, _ that they could participate, that… things weren’t as bleak as they’d always been led to believe. Even so, they were always crushed in the end. The world at large discovering magic would never be a good thing. The things they wished they could change… could never be. Not through magical means, anyway.   
  
“You’re quiet,” Lance noted, “Are you… thirsty again?”   
  
Adam blinked, coming back from his thoughts. “Oh, no, I only need to feed once or twice a week. At least, like that. I actually eat real food most times as well.”   
  
“Huh?”   
  
“Vampires do need blood to survive, but we still need food as well. Which is good, because I really didn’t want to have to give up sour cream latkes or my mother’s Kneidlach.”   
  
“That’s cool. Hey, if you like spicy foods, you should try my mother’s recipe for enchiladas,” Lance said enthusiastically, “But, uh, some other time when I don’t need to sleep, haha. Oh! Can I get your phone number? I mean, I already got Shiro’s, but like, I wanna be able to talk to you too. Or join the groupchat or whatever.”   
  
“What makes you think we have a groupchat?” Adam asked with a teasing grin, pulling out his phone, “Okay, I won’t play with you too much. We’re not that out of touch. We’re pretty modern.”   
  
“Oh, good,” Lance said, looking relieved as they typed their number into Adam’s phone. “I have enough trouble trying to teach my parents meme culture. I don’t think I could handle explaining it to a bunch of guys who look my age but are actually as old as my grandparents.”   
  
Adam laughed. “Keeping up is the only way not to get caught. Have a good night, Lance.”    
  
Lance gave a two-finger salute and a grin, and Adam melted into the shadows.   



	5. Chapter 5

About a week later, Adam woke up and realized the full moon would show its face that night.    
  
“Mmm.  _ K’lavlav? _ Are you ready for tonight?” he said sleepily, nosing the back of Lotor’s neck. It was always very nice, waking up next to the person he loved like this.   
  
Lotor groaned. “As much as I can be, my sweet. I’ve still got plenty of money to fund my eating habits for today.”   
  
“Anything you really want, or are you going to binge at every McDonald’s in town until you’re kicked out of them one by one like usual?” Adam asked with a chuckle.   
  
“I’m not kicked out!” Lotor protested, “Merely encouraged to leave. And they don’t ask me to not come back.”   
  
Adam laughed, kissing Lotor’s shoulder. “Of course. Maybe they’re jealous of how much you can put away in a single sitting.”   
  
Lotor snorted. “Will you be running with the pack tonight?”   
  
“Mm, I think so, unless something comes up. I’ve started getting Edie’s refurbished. Hopefully nothing will happen in the night, but…” He trailed off and shrugged.    
  
“I doubt it will. Mm… I almost don’t want to leave bed, but I know I need to get started on eating. Ugh. I’m glad this is only one day.”   
  
*   
  
Adam’s phone dinged about halfway through Lotor’s lunch. He’d long since finished, but Lotor needed more time to eat more, so he’d stayed sat with his husband.   
  
“Huh. Lance wants to hang out tonight,” he said aloud. “And he’s set today’s pronouns to he/him, FYI.”   
  
Lotor looked up from his third twenty-piece chicken nugget meal and swallowed. “Well… I could introduce him to the pack, I suppose,” he offered, “Full moon or not, we should be fine. Besides, it might be a good shock for him. A test. See if he can really handle the darker side of supernaturals.”   
  
“He handled it just fine when I literally drank his blood,” Adam said dryly, “I think that’s pretty dark. What are you going to do, show him how a wolf pack plays fetch?”   
  
“You take that back, you leech!” Lotor huffed, shoving another chicken nugget in his mouth and swallowing after two chews. “Let him know about tonight. I’ll text Acxa and the girls. See if they’re amenable.”   
  
Adam nodded, fingers swiping quickly over the keyboard. Lotor typed as quickly as he could before diving back into his lunch with gusto.   
  
Just an hour later, when Lotor finally could take a break in eating, they had their answers. Lance would be coming to the pack’s full moon run.   
  
On one hand, Adam dreaded it. He didn’t want Lance getting hurt, and the teeth and claws of wolves were a lot different from spells that turned you green. But on the other, he really wanted to see Lance in person again. And he  _ did _ trust Lotor’s pack. Plus, it would be a good test, like Lotor said… If Lance could really handle this kind of thing, then… They could stay friends, at the very least. And hopefully more.   
  
*   
  
Adam couldn’t help but worry as soon as Lance stepped inside the secret, shared home he and Lotor had deep in the woods. The home he’d owned for decades, where he’d first met Lotor in these same woods.   
  
“Hey Adam,” Lance greeted warmly, “Sooo, is the pack already out back and shifted or something? Sunset’s close.”   
  
“They’re all out back having a last minute grill-out. Should be just about done. Hope you didn’t expect to eat anything,” Adam said with a laugh, “I guarantee you every crumb has been wolfed down.”   
  
Lance laughed brightly. “Was that an intentional pun, because that was really cute.”   
  
Adam nodded with a wide grin, then gestured for Lance to follow him out to the backyard. Indeed, there was hardly a scrap of food left at all, and Adam chuckled when Lance went poking around the remains anyway.   
  
Lance’s disappointed pout made him laugh louder. “I told you,” he said, amusement lacing his tone.   
  
“I didn’t want to believe you,” Lance replied, sticking his tongue out at Adam.   
  
“Careful, or the wolf will get your tongue,” Lotor said as he made his way over.   
  
“Oh, will he now?” Lance said, grinning and sticking out his tongue even further. “I dare you to try!”   
  
“I didn’t say  _ which _ wolf,” Lotor said mildly.   
  
Lance screamed when Ezor grabbed his sides from behind and shouted “boo!” right in his ears, and the group burst into laughter.   
  
“That was spooky and mean!” Lance declared, crossing his arms and pouting again.   
  
“Aww, I’m sorry, cutie,” Ezor said, reaching out and pinching his cheek, “Just a little practical joke! Never met a human before. Well, one that wasn’t already somethin’ else. That knew what we were and stuff.”   
  
“You know, that’s hardly any justification,” Lance said dryly, “But nice to meet you. I’m Lance.”   
  
“Ezor,” she said cheerily, popping her gum, “This is my girlfriend Zethrid.” She gestured to the large, burly woman who’d dyed the sides of her cropped black hair neon pink.    
  
Zethrid smirked, leaning in. “Nice to meet you, runt. Try not to get in our way too much tonight, wouldn’t wanna see a mess in the morning. Though you wouldn’t make much of one.”   
  
“Well, maybe if you hadn’t eaten all the food I could at least have had a snack,” Lance teased, unfazed.   
  
Zethrid barked a sharp laugh and clapped Lance on the shoulder. “I like this one.”   
  
“I’m Acxa,” the next girl said, her hair also dyed — this one a dark blue color. “The silent one is Narti. She’s mute, communicates through ASL.”   
  
Narti gave a short nod.    
  
Lance’s eyes lit up. “Yeah? Cool, I’ve got a deaf uncle. He taught me growing up how to communicate with him. But how does that work in your wolf form? Can you, like, bark, or do you guys have some kind of pack-telepathy like in  _ Twilight? _ ”   
  
Adam couldn’t help but groan at the mention of the book.   
  
“What? It’s a good book series,” Lance insisted, “Listen, it’s hardly perfect, but it had a lot of good elements.”   
  
_ It’s forbidden to mention around Adam, _ Narti signed with a shit-eating grin,  _ He hates the popularization of the sparkle vampire. _   
  
“Thank you, Narti,” Adam said.   
  
Lance chuckled. “Okay, sure, but… Bella, ol’ Eddie, and Jacob could’ve totally been a triad if they’d pulled their heads from their asses and quit the alpha male posturing bullshit.”   
  
“That, I certainly agree with,” Lotor said with a smile, “But ladies, it’s getting close to moonrise. Let’s start off in the woods so we don’t make our guest uncomfortable, hm?”   
  
Lotor’s pack followed him into the woods, and Adam caught Lance’s questioning look.   
  
“Their magic forces a turn on the full moon. Even if they changed a little before it, the magic would destabilize them anyway and they wouldn’t have any clothes. They have to undress to avoid ripping. Nobody knows where the completely vanished clothes go to, though. One of the mysteries of the werewolf,” Adam explained.   
  
“Will they be okay? You said they’d get destabilized…” Lance bit his lip.   
  
“They’ll be fine. They’re a little less themselves on these nights, but mostly aware. They don’t lose their minds entirely, but their magic is less… their own… and more of the moon goddess’s, as they believe. More part of nature’s.”   
  
Lance nodded in understanding. “Gotcha.” He kept an eye on the woods, taking half a step back when the five wolves emerged. “Whoa.”   
  
The white wolf chuffed a little in what Adam knew was his approximation of laughter and grinned at Lance.   
  
“You’ll be fine,” he reassured. “They’re just going to say hi and then go hunt for a good bit.”   
  
Adam kept careful watch as the wolves gave Lance their greetings — Lotor, with a lick of Lance’s fingers; Zethrid, the biggest black wolf, with a sniff and a headbutt to the chest; Ezor, a skinnier red wolf with a playful sneeze and a yip; Acxa, the smallest black wolf, with a dignified nuzzle to Lance’s stomach; and Narti, the dark brown wolf, with a sharp nip to Lance’s fingers.   
  
They greeted Adam similarly in turn, accepting pats on the head, before running off into the night to hunt.   
  
“Whoa,” Lance said quietly, blown away, “That was… Hah. Magical.”   
  
Adam snorted. “Har har. They’ll probably be back in about two hours or so. Want to help me clean up their food mess? I’ve got a frozen cheese pizza I could bake in the oven for us to share.”   
  
Lance nodded. The time flew by as Adam and Lance talked and laughed together, and Adam loved every second of it. He was liking Lance more and more. He liked Lance’s laugh, the way his eyes sparkled, the smirk of his lips when he said something he thought was witty, the way he stammered when he got flustered - fuck, Adam really found himself liking Lance. He’d need to talk to Lotor soon, if this carried on the way it felt like it was going to.   
  
His phone rang and he blinked when he saw Shiro was calling. Shouldn’t he have been with Keith and the Marmora pack? He answered it quickly.   
  
“Shiro? What’s—”   
  
“Adam, thank God,” Shiro gasped, and the tone made Adam grip his phone more tightly. Unconsciously, his fangs slid forward.   
  
“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice coming out raspy.   
  
“It’s Haggar. We — I mean, the Marmora pack — detected her scent. Heading towards your home. As well as Sendak.”   
  
Fear gripped Adam’s heart and he inhaled sharply. “Not Zarkon?”   
  
“No, he must be staying home, but those two were definitely out there an hour or so ago.”   
  
“Thanks for the warning. I’m telling Lotor. Right now.” He hung up, squeezing Lance’s hand hard, and then shadow travelled them to Lotor.   
  
Lotor had nearly pounced the two of them before he realized who they were, and nuzzled at Adam’s stomach in apology.   
  
“You smelled them?” Adam asked shortly.   
  
Lotor nodded.  _ There’s claw marks in our trees. Sendak’s scent-marking like it’s HIS territory. _ He growled at that.  _ Pack is re-establishing now. Another thing. They’re long gone, but they left a note. Nailed to a tree, over here. _   
  
Shiro appeared from the air, staggering slightly as the landing threw him off. “I thought you were being killed,” he said, “Don’t just  _ hang up _ when I tell you  _ Haggar is coming, _ Adam!”   
  
“Sorry,” he said briefly, feeling too off-kilter to give the response he knew he should.   
  
Shiro sighed and shook his head, glancing at Lotor, who barked at Adam.   
  
Adam nodded and moved forward, nails still digging into Lance’s wrist. It wasn’t until he released Lance to grab the note that he realized how tightly he’d been holding. He swallowed, and chose to ignore it for now. He couldn’t deal with so many things at once. His own hands shook as he read the note, barely noticing Lance kneeling to hug Lotor and talking quietly to Shiro.   
  
_ Your marriage is a sham, my son. A disgusting sham. Brothers such as you and Lotor should never marry like you have. _   
  
Ugh, that made Adam want to vomit. “You turning me into a vampire doesn’t make me your son,” he huffed.   
  
_ Not to mention it’s high time I found you and brought you back home. You know you belong with Sendak. He bonded to you, after all. _ _   
_ _   
_ “Doesn’t work if I didn’t agree,” he muttered.   
  
_ You have until the harvest moon to get all your affairs in order and return to me before we go on the offensive, dearest son. Consider this your only warning. _ _   
_ _   
_ Adam swallowed heavily. Harvest moon. Two months away. He sank to his knees and Lotor trotted forward to let Adam bury his face in Lotor’s fur.   
  
“What are we going to do?” Adam whispered into Lotor’s neck.   
  
Lotor gave a soft woof. He had no idea, either.   
  
“Guys? What’s going on?” Lance asked in a very soft, very scared voice.   
  
Adam shivered, the guilt coming back to claw at him. Lotor nosed Adam’s face and gave him an affectionate cheek kiss. He drew strength from it and scratched behind Lotor’s ears, trying to decide what to say.   
  
“Haggar, who left the note? She’s...” Adam swallowed heavily. “The person who turned me. She’s also Lotor’s mother. She’s threatening us.”   
  
Lance’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he let out a low whistle. “Shit. Okay, uh, should I get you inside and have some tea or anything? Is the pack going to be okay for the rest of the night?”   
  
Adam smiled a little bit at Lance’s concern. “They’ll go on patrolling our area for the night until they shift back in the morning. I should go with them…”   
  
“No you’re not,” Shiro said, laying a hand on Adam’s shoulder, “If Obaasan hears that I let you run off into the woods after seeing evidence of Haggar again, she’ll never let us hear the end of it. Go inside with Lance, have some tea, and let us handle it. I’ll layer some extra witchy protections on your grounds. The Marmora pack and I will help keep you, Lance, Lotor, and his pack safe, okay?”   
  
Adam sagged and sighed. “Alright. Thanks, Takashi. Dunno what I’d do without you.” He smiled tiredly and hugged Shiro before turning back to Lance. “Lance, I… I’m sorry. About hurting your wrist like that earlier.”   
  
Lance waved it off. “No biggie. Deep shit was happening. Forgiven.” He smiled and Adam couldn’t help but smile back, just a little. He took Lance’s hand, more gently this time, and shadow travelled them back to his house.   
  
Lance headed for the kitchen, starting the teapot, and Adam sat down at the table. Lance sat with him in silence until the teapot whistled, then he started the steeping. It was only after they both had their cups in front of them that Adam finally felt comfortable enough to start talking.   
  
“Haggar was the one who kidnapped me, not long after I turned 26. I was with her for two years as she experimented on me. Made me fight other vampires. Let… Werewolves…  _ play _ with me…” He shuddered. “She turned me into her Victual — that is, the Eternal Meal, to put in the… disgusting, yet explanatory way. She really liked me, unfortunately. She fucked up during a drunken feeding, turned me into a vampire. As a newborn, I was stronger than her. I had a more intense need to feed than she did, so I was able to overpower her and get away. Ran back home. I’d been declared legally dead—”   
  
“I mean, you were, right?” Lance clapped his hand over his mouth as soon as he realized what he’d said.   
  
Adam chuckled. “Yes. It’s been long enough I can find the humor in that,” he said, amused, “Anyway, I was able to prove myself, get reinstated as alive. While technically dead, yes.”   
  
Lance nodded, sipping at his tea.   
  
“I told them and my siblings what had happened to me, and we went to our most trusted rabbi — as it turned out, he had dealt with this sort of thing before, and even knew a local family of witches — the Shiroganes, actually. Anyway, my rabbi, he was able to help guide me through my… supernatural needs in a way that still fit with our religion. For instance, only feeding from a direct source of human blood. I can’t, say, steal a bloodbag from a hospital and store it for later. Certainly no drinking animal blood instead so I didn’t have to harm other humans — the only way for me to feed was to learn the hypno-spells and memory charms on humans.”   
  
Adam paused to take a sip of his own tea, sighing slightly as it warmed him up. “Which, of course, didn’t work very well on you,” he said with a sly smirk.   
  
Lance held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “Hey, not my fault I got the magic vaccine gene.”   
  
Adam chuckled again. “Yes, well… Now about a decade later, due to the government paying me out for their mistake in declaring me dead, my savings account had grown quite substantially, so I figured I would buy this house. Nice, big, secluded. My family lived here with me for a long time. Until my parents died, my siblings got married and moved out. I was alone for a while. Oh, I haven’t even given you a timeframe. I was born January 11th of 1946. By the time I was buying this house it was about… oh, 1984, I think. I met Lotor in 1990 — a story for another time. We got together shortly after, and my parents passed in ‘92. So they got to meet him, at least. Now this was about the time of the AIDS crisis, so they were understandably worried about me getting together with him, but they supported my happiness.”   
  
He let out a long sigh. “That brings us to the now, just about. Lotor had just run away from home when I met him. Apparently subjected to similar treatment. Fighting in an arena, torture, experiments, and… he had the same abuser I did. Sendak.” He shuddered and drained his teacup. “But to make a long story short, I helped Lotor hide from his family, he saved a few other outcasts for his pack, and we’ve been hiding out here ever since. But I guess Haggar and Zarkon and Sendak really wanted to track us down and take us back. I have no idea what we’ll do… But at least we have a month or so to plan. If she keeps to her word.”   
  
Lance gently kicked at Adam’s ankle. “And you’re not alone. You’ve the Shirogane witches, Marmora pack, Lotor’s pack. Me, for whatever I’m worth as a plain ol’ human.”   
  
Adam smiled fondly. “Good company and good tea,” he said, “Plus, you’re pretty weird for a regular human anyway, I think you’ll fit in fine. If you want to keep staying in this shitfest.”   
  
“Of course I do! I really like you guys. And, like… Not to, uh… project my fantasies or anything, but I’ve always dreamed of weird shit like this happening to me. I mean, I was usually the magical, mysterious chosen one who swooped in and saved the day or whatever, but I’ll take weirdo sidekick who’s good with tea,” Lance said, laughing quietly.   
  
“Well, welcome to the pack, then.”   
  
Lance smiled, and Adam was eternally grateful that Lance couldn’t hear Adam’s heart skip a beat.   



	6. Chapter 6

Having Lance around so frequently was pure tortue, Adam decided after a couple of weeks.   
  
“It’s because you want them to push you down and fuck you until you can’t think anymore,” Lotor said dryly.   
  
“As if you don’t want the same thing,” Adam replied irritably, “And mine’s exacerbated by craving their blood, Lotor. Lance’s blood is…” He sighed.    
  
“Exquisite?” Lotor suggested.   
  
Adam nodded. “Yes. And… I want more of it. I’ve never wanted more of a particular human’s blood before,” he said softly, looking away, “It’s just… A little bit scary. Strange. I… I don’t want Lance to think I only keep them around because I need to feed and they’re convenient.”   
  
Lotor’s face softened and he brushed his hand over Adam’s cheek. “Darling, I highly doubt Lance would think that. I believe they’d be honoured to be fed from again. I know they consider us good friends as well.”   
  
Adam nodded. “Yes, friends, but…” he winced. “Not so much the feeding… there are… concerns… about me doing it… More reasons for me to be hesitant other than a sense of doom.”   
  
Lotor raised his eyebrows.   
  
“Well…” He paused and cleared his throat, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Lance gets off on it.”   
  
_ “What?!” _   
  
“Yes,” Adam groaned, “They didn’t realize it before I actually did it, so it poses a… questionable morals problem.”   
  
Lotor shook his head. “How interesting… Though, smart of you to refrain from asking them again during all this time,” he mused, “I do wish I wasn’t poisonous to you, my darling. That would solve quite a few issues.”   
  
Adam smiled, bumping his forehead against Lotor’s. “Mhm. But we’ll make do. We always have,  _ k’lavlav. _ I love you.”   
  
Lotor smiled. “I love you too.” He grinned mischievously. “Though really, darling, if we both like Lance, I don’t see why you wouldn’t ask them out. Or rather, both of us. We both like them romantically. And it would be a very, very nice sexual perk, the feeding thing. As well as taking care of you.”   
  
“You make it sound like we’re using them,” Adam said, rolling his eyes.   
  
“Not at all. Lance is cute, funny, endearing… Perhaps they have bad joke timing and their arrogant façade is rather… annoying, on occasion, but…” Lotor trailed off, shrugging. “They’re very kind. And genuine. When they’re not plastering on that façade.”   
  
“Yeah… Lance is… Fuck,” Adam cursed, burying his face in his hands. “I’m… scared. To ask them out. They don’t deserve…”   
  
Lotor slipped an arm over Adam’s shoulders and nuzzled at his cheek. “I know what you’re thinking. They don’t deserve monsters like us.”   
  
“Wha — you’re not a monster,” Adam insisted, inhaling sharply through his nose.   
  
“And neither are you,” he said pointedly, “And Lance is capable of making their own decisions. They know exactly what and who we are. Even if we didn’t want them to know so early. And they’ve stuck by our side this long.”   
  
Lotor paused, kissing the shell of Adam’s ear and smiling when Adam melted into his side. “Lance is a big… adult. Trying to stave off any kind of relationship because we’re afraid of what we might bring has never worked out for literally anybody. It never worked out when it was me and my pack, nor you and the Shirogane family, nor us with each other. And the countless stories, both fictional and non. Let’s not act like idiots in some suspenseful romcom, hm? We’re already friends with Lance. Just by virtue of being close to them will put them in danger. We may as well enjoy being happy and be in a better position to protect them. We have many allies, as well.”   
  
“When did you get to be so smart?” Adam asked dryly, kissing Lotor softly.   
  
“A little bit after I met you. Because I certainly was dumber for a moment, after you tried to kill yourself to get me to trust you.”   
  
“Oh, okay, mister, you’re staying in the doghouse tonight,” Adam declared, shoving himself away from Lotor and rising from the couch, “I can’t tolerate that kind of insult.”   
  
“Sure you can’t,” Lotor said, laughing, “You know you love me, darling.”   
  
“Unfortunately,” Adam said dryly, “Do you want me to make you some dinner?”   
  
Lotor’s stomach growled loudly. “Er… beef stroganoff?”   
  
“Ooh, that sounds good,” Adam mumbled. “Okay. Tomorrow, then?”   
  
“Tomorrow.” Lotor smiled.   
  
*   
  
Lotor decided that taking Lance to his and Adam’s usual coffee date shop would be a good, pretty neutral place to ask Lance to join their relationship. Adam invited Lance over after he finished his work for the day. Lance's excited, emoji filled response made Adam chuckle to himself.   
  
“So cute,” he whispered, showing Lotor, who snorted.   
  
“I’m glad he’s happy to be seeing us,” he said fondly.   
  
Adam kissed Lotor’s cheek. “Me too.”   
  
A few short hours later, they showed up early, and to their great surprise, Lance was already there.   
  
“You’re early,” Adam said as he approached the table Lance was sitting at.   
  
Lance jumped. “Oh, hey! Hey. Yeah, I uh… I have problems with being late. If I’m not here like, a good half hour before the time, I’ll be an hour late,” he said with a sheepish grin, “Usually my meds are wearing off about this time, so. Time starts to get wobbly. Better safe than sorry!”   
  
“Understandable,” Lotor said, sitting next to Lance.    
  
Adam sat across from him. “So, we wanted to talk to you. Mostly, ask you a question. And, well… First, I want to say that there’s no pressure on you to answer yes or anything. We just… want you to be aware of your options. You deserve good things, Lance, and—”   
  
Lotor rolled his eyes. “Darling, I love you, but you’re rambling. Lance, dear, we want to date you. Both of us. All three of us, in a relationship. Of the romantic sort.”   
  
Adam swallowed. “I was trying to do it gently,” he protested in a mumble.   
  
“Or stalling,” Lotor replied with a twinkle in his eye.   
  
Lance blinked. Twice. Took a deep breath. Clenched his fists. Adam began to worry as he watched Lance take another deep breath with his eyes closed.   
  
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Lance whispered, “Oh, man. I mean? YES, first of all? Like, holy shit, yes! I am super into — like, I really — I want to date both of you. Hundred percent. Yes.” He grinned widely.   
  
Adam blinked, then smiled warmly and stood to sweep Lance into a hug. “That’s wonderful news,” he murmured, chuckling as Lotor slipped his arms around the both of them.    
  
“Welcome to the fold, Lance,” Lotor said, hesitating for only a moment before placing a soft kiss to the top of Lance’s head. Adam did the same, giving Lotor a soft look.   
  
Lance giggled a bit and squeezed them both tighter. “Cool. Glad to be here.” He pulled back, and then pulled them both down into an awkward, messy, three-way kiss, and Adam decided he loved it anyway.   
  
“Sooooo,” Lance said, a sly grin on his face, “Does this mean it’s okay for you to feed from me again, Adam?”   
  
Adam blushed as his jaw went slack. “I — I mean, if — if you want to? You don’t have to just because—”   
  
Lance rolled his eyes and placed a finger over Adam’s lips. “I want to, not because we’re together now — I mean, that is kind of a factor — but like, because now it’s a whole lot easier to consent to and figure that whole mess out. No guilty feelings.”   
  
Adam nodded mutely, then Lance removed his finger and grinned.    
  
“Good.”   
  
“I’m not thirsty right now,” Adam managed to say.   
  
“That’s fine. Just, y’know, no more randos, if you don’t want to.”   
  
“I’m glad this all worked out quite sensibly,” Lotor said breezily, “But in all honesty, I  _ am _ very invested in getting your clothes off in the near future, dear.” He smirked at Lance, tilting Lance’s chin up.    
  
Adam had to chuckle at Lance’s blush and stammer. “It is rather sexy when he does that,” he whispered in Lance’s ear, “but you don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. I know you have — issues — but—”   
  
“I’m fine, Adam,” Lance said breathily, “So,  _ so _ fine. I am totally okay with the sexy stuff right away. You guys know most of all the stuff by now, just a few different word choices and we’re set.”   
  
“Alright then,” Adam said with amusement.   
  
“You certainly had that all worked out,” Lotor added, chuckling softly, then leaned in to kiss and nibble at Lance’s lips.   
  
Lance’s soft moan was music to Adam’s ears.   
  
“Yup. Fuck. Mm, I — shit! Coffee place!” Lance pulled away, face red. “We’re still in public, you guys, Jesus Christ.”   
  
“I doubt he would help me,” Adam said dryly, making Lance roll his eyes.   
  
“Well, whatever,” Lance said with a mock-annoyed huff. “Let’s just book it back to your place, right?”   
  
“So eager,” Lotor teased.   
  
“As if you weren’t the one working me up,” Lance retorted.   
  
Adam laughed, taking their hands and forcing them to stand up. “Come on. We can shadow travel as soon as we’re out of here to move things along faster.”   
  
Lance gave Adam a toothy grin. “Good. Let’s go.”   
  
*   
  
Adam grunted as Lance slammed into him the moment they popped safely inside Adam and Lotor’s bedroom. Lotor’s soft laugh barely registered under the onslaught of kissing Lance was giving him and he moaned, wrapping his arms tightly around Lance.   
  
“Fuck,” Lance whispered softly when he pulled back to breathe.   
  
“Ah, breathing. Good thing I’m already used to Lotor needing it,” Adam said amusedly.   
  
“Asshat,” Lance said with no heat, turning to kiss Lotor. “No more for you.”   
  
Adam snorted, then slipped his arms around his partners from Lance’s behind and nuzzled at Lance’s neck. Smelling the blood rush under Lance’s skin, hearing his heart slam in his veins as he got worked up again. It was so, so tempting to slip his fangs in and have a drink, despite not being thirsty.   
  
He scraped his fangs over Lance’s pulse point and felt it spike as Lance moaned into Lotor’s mouth.   
  
“Stop teasing,” Lance whined.   
  
“Promise you’ll kiss me again.”   
  
“Every day,” Lance swore.   
  
Adam bit down. The warmth flooded his mouth immediately and he drank greedily. Lance’s blood tasted so sweet, sweeter than before, he realized, likely because Lance was leaning into it more this time, letting himself feel aroused. Adam moaned quietly and reluctantly retracted his fangs once he was full. Too soon, he thought idly as he licked gently over the punctures.    
  
It was only when Lance deliberately rubbed his ass against Adam’s crotch that he realized he’d gotten hard from that. But after only a moment of inactivity, Lotor leaned in and stole Adam’s lips in a kiss, nibbling at his lips, and Adam groaned loudly.   
  
“Clothes off,” he muttered, “Now, please.”   
  
Lance snickered and slipped away from between the two, stripping with impunity. Lotor gave Adam one last kiss before pulling away and pulling off clothes more slowly.   
  
“Fucking tease,” Adam said as he stripped as quickly as Lance.   
  
“Mm, yes, darling, but you love it,” Lotor said, making a kissy face at Adam.   
  
“Cute,” Lance whispered.   
  
Adam turned and smiled at Lance, looking up and down his body. “Gorgeous,” he replied.   
  
Lance blushed. “Thanks. Er, um…” He gestured vaguely at his nether region. “Cock and cunt are good words. Or also just plain hole will do for, um, that.”   
  
“Understood,” Lotor said quietly as Adam nodded.   
  
Lance smiled confidently. “Then let’s get this show on the road, huh?”   
  
Adam and Lotor both snorted. Lance grinned, unrepentant, and sat on the bed.   
  
“How do we wanna do this? Who’s the bottom?” he asked jokingly.   
  
Adam and Lotor exchanged glances.   
  
“Well—”   
  
“We have a chart,” Lotor explained, cheeks tinted pink, “We’re both, er, really only service tops. Mostly bottoms.”   
  
“Shit,” said Lance, “Me too. I mean, I have, like, some toys for topping that I like to use, but they’re at home, and, uh…”   
  
“We’ll just have to adjust the chart later,” Adam said, “I can service top tonight. Because frankly, Lance?” He stepped closer with a sharp smile. “I really would like to have you under me tonight.”   
  
Lance made a strangled sound. “Oh, man, that’s…. Yes, please.”   
  
“And where does that leave me?” Lotor asked with a pout.   
  
“I, uh… I mean, you can ride me while Adam fucks me,” Lance offered, “Just need to grab the toys from home.”   
  
Lotor agreed, and a very, very short shadow travel trip later, Lance was set up and laying back on the bed, pillow under his hips.   
  
“I hope you like the one I picked out,” Lance said to Lotor, “It’s not too exciting, but not too plain, either? I didn’t know how adventurous you’d wanna be.”   
  
Lotor smiled, sitting beside Lance and gripping the dildo in his hand, slowly pumping it. It was a little bumpy — as Lance had said, not too strange.   
  
“I think I can handle it,” Lotor said.   
  
“Good,” Adam butted in, “Because all this waiting around and being sexy at each other instead of actually… Er, making love, is starting to get on my nerves.”   
  
Lance chuckled and spread his legs, giving Adam a dark-eyed, lustful look. “Come and get it,” he said huskily, and Adam had to wonder who was the one with the obedience magic — himself, or Lance?   
  
Regardless, Adam knelt between Lance’s legs and tentatively reached forward to stroke at Lance’s folds, spreading them to get a good look at Lance’s hole. Lance didn’t react much, and Adam started stroking at Lance’s cock. It definitely looked one, but not very big. Adam didn’t mind, though. It certainly made it easier to suck. As soon as the thought entered his mind, his mouth was clamped around Lance’s cock and sucking hard. Lance jolted in his grasp and moaned loudly.   
  
“I think he likes that,” Lotor whispered conspiratorially, earning himself a light smack on the arm from Lance.   
  
Adam sucked on it for only a few more seconds, feeling Lance tense far too much, and pulled back.   
  
“You taste good,” he said, eyes half-lidded.   
  
Lance blushed again. “Good to know plenty of my parts taste good, I guess,” he said with a laugh.   
  
Lotor kissed him softly and shifted so he was spread out over Lance’s strap. Adam smirked as Lance’s eyes went wide at the sight.   
  
“Fuck,” Lance softly.   
  
“That’s the idea,” Lotor said lightly, before slowly making his way down.   
  
Lance whined, and Adam decided he’d finally had enough of the situation, scooting forward again. He rubbed the head of his cock against Lance’s folds, watching his face for cues, and pressed in slowly at Lance’s nod.   
  
_ Hot. Tight. Wet. So, so wet. _   
  
Adam groaned when he bottomed out, clinging to Lotor's shoulders. “So good,” he praised both of them, noting Lance’s slight jerk. Ooh, well, wasn’t that lovely? Praise kink. Things would definitely get more interesting in the future, after they’d discussed kinkier sex things. He started to move at the same moment Lotor started to bounce, and he could see on Lance’s face the way it overwhelmed him.   
  
“Fuck,” Lance said again, “Fuck, that’s hot, and  _ ohmyGodAdamYES _ right there, ahh…”   
  
Adam smirked, kissing at Lotor’s shoulder when he came down again and started moving faster. The slide was marvelous, and he moaned nearly as loudly as Lance. Time seemed to stretch, and then fold, and out of nowhere, Adam felt ready to come.   
  
“Can I — inside —”   
  
“Yes,” Lance breathed out between moans, grasping Lotor’s hand, “Me too, Lotor, please, with us—”   
  
Lotor came first, and Lance closed his eyes to avoid the splatters. Adam would laugh later, when he remembered that he’d forgotten to warn Lance just how much werewolves tend to come. But in the moment, he just groaned at the absolute sexy look of Lance’s face covered in his husband’s come and that tipped him over the edge. He felt Lance’s cunt tighten around him at the same time and they groaned their release together.    
  
They cleaned each other up in Adam’s massive shower room and piled into the bed together, Lance between Adam and Lotor.   
  
“That was amazing,” Lance whispered into the dark.   
  
“Yeah,” Adam sighed, nuzzling Lance’s neck.   
  
“Agreed,” Lotor said, pressing a bit closer into the cuddles.   
  
“I’m so glad I said yes.”   
  
“We are too,” Lotor murmured. “Not just for the sex, though.”   
  
Lance laughed. “Me too, I mean. Just… yeah, I’m shutting up before I make it worse.”   
  
Adam snorted. “Good night, Lance.”   
  
“G’night, guys.”   



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay! Monday was... a very Monday sort of Monday. As it tends to be. But here we are, final chapter, and another piece of art by the lovely inkbadger!

The night of the harvest moon, Adam stood on the edge of a clearing in the part of the woods that was his property. They had the Marmora pack on their side, as well as Shiro, and Lotor and his pack. Lance was out there too, somewhere, hidden under several spells with a gun. They’d claimed they were a crack shot and Adam didn’t hesitate to believe them. But still, having them out there with such minimal, easily disrupted protection spells, scared Adam to his core. Lance was so squishy, and would only be able to get a single shot off for certain. They’d be so easily discovered after that. A flash of muzzle fire, the direction of the sound, the smell of the gunpowder.    
  
Adam had to trust Lance that he knew when and where the best shot would be.   
  
He swallowed nervously, eyes scanning the dark, waiting and watching for Haggar and her entourage. The Galra pack was immense. He had no idea how many Haggar and Zarkon would’ve convinced to come. Not to mention Haggar’s coven. How many vampires did she have under her control now?   
  
He’d get his answers soon enough.   
  
The fight began in a flash, no mincing of words or any monologuing, which Lance had joked about earlier in the day. They’d gone so far as to mime out Haggar as an old crone, raving about fake incest and making Lotor and Adam laugh. Lance always knew how to break the tension.   
  
Well, not right now, as they actually fought for their lives. But earlier? Earlier was great. Adam wished he could’ve gone back to that morning, with Lance and Lotor in his bed in a cozy cuddle pile. Having a good breakfast and cracking jokes.   
  
He ducked from a spell and swiped an uppercut to the jaw of the vampire closest to him. She dropped like a sack of rocks and Adam couldn’t help a vicious, self-satisfactory smirk as he whirled and shot off a spell of his own at a wolf who was on Acxa. She acknowledged him with a shirt yip and then turned to help Lotor as he ripped into Sendak.   
  
_ Glad someone’s getting that  _ **_ben zonna_ ** _ , _ he thought, sidestepping an attack from a different wolf.   
  
He could practically hear Lotor and Lance in the back of his mind screaming that his next plan was a bad idea, but he ignored them, leaping onto the back of the wolf and drawing the silver knife he had in his sleeve. He sliced it across the wolf’s neck, turning the growls into a cut-off scream of pain as the silver boiled the skin and blood. Quickly, the wolf died, but the effects of the silver still burned through its throat until the head was almost entirely severed. It made Adam want to gag, especially now that his arms were covered in what was poison to him, but he couldn’t do anything about it.   
  
Turning on his heel, he carefully sheathed his knife and hid in his sleeve again. Wouldn’t do for  _ him _ to get a burn. He looked around for a moment, taking stock, and started to move towards Shiro to help him in his own battle — but a sharp crack of sound made him freeze.   
  
_ No. _   
  
Lance had used their only shot. Now they were vulnerable. He turned away from Shiro, knowing Shiro had it handled in that moment the battle froze, and sprinted in the direction of Haggar. During the battle, they’d thinned their numbers, and now, it was only now that Adam noticed  _ who _ Lance had shot.  _ Zarkon. _ The pack — the pack was scattering, and without their wolfish protection, Haggar’s coven was fleeing.   
  
The Marmora pack decided to give chase, sensing their opportunity to finally destroy the rest of the Galra pack and perhaps Haggar’s coven. Without Zarkon or Sendak, most of the Galra pack would likely surrender.    
  
Unfortunately, Lance’s weird magical sensitivity didn’t protect them from magic used on their environment. Haggar sent a concussive blast that knocked Adam off his feet and blew Lance from their hiding place.   
  
Adam got up as quickly as he could on unsteady feet. He tried taking a step forward, but the blast had taken a lot out of him. He could hardly stand. Feeling sick, he turned his head towards Haggar, trying to ignore the way his stomach and vision both lurched. He saw Lance’s lifeless body being lifted into the air by Haggar’s magic and Adam wanted to sob.    
  
“So, this is your little pet,” Haggar crooned, “Not enough for you to be fooling around with your own brother, you had to go and acquire this little thing that you haven’t even turned into your Victual. How disappointing, son.”   
  
“You. Are.  _ Not. _ My. Mother!” Adam roared, forcing in a deep breath, forcing the pain and dizziness and nausea away, lurching towards Haggar, a spell in hand—   
  
Lotor leapt from the darkness, snarling, and knocked Haggar to the ground. Without hesitation, he turned and caught Lance’s body with his own, collapsing under Lance’s fall for only a brief moment. He sprung up and stood over Lance’s body, and with weak relief, Adam noted the barest hint of their chest rising and falling. Good. If they were alive, even just a little, Adam knew he could count on Shiro’s family’s vast knowledge of spells and creation to help save Lance.

  
  
In moments, he was casting an energy drain spell on Haggar, using the flow of quintessence to repair his own tired and torn body. Unfortunately, in the time he’d been watching to see if Lance and Lotor would be okay, she’d gotten back up.   
  
And she looked absolutely  _ furious. _   
  
“How dare you turn my son against me?!” she screeched, casting a spell of her own. Spikes of hardened quintessence rose from the ground around him, catching on his clothes and tearing new wounds into his body.   
  
“I thought we both were,” Adam said sarcastically, constantly moving around in a bid to avoid the spikes.   
  
“Shut up!” she snarled, and Adam staggered as a spike rose and sliced open his cheek. Oh, that’d been way too close to his eye for comfort.   
  
He grunted and planted his feet in place. All the movement had been weakening his spell and, in turn, weakening his body. He needed to finally finish this.   
  
“ _ Hapess me sheh ya-enay-otcha _ ,” he yelled, putting all the magical power he could into the energy spell once again.   
  
After just a few seconds, Haggar shrivelled away to ashes, the echoes of her suffering screams making Adam vomit. He fell to his knees and then pitched to the side to avoid falling into his own mess, feeling completely exhausted. Even with the spell adding energy back, it hardly did anything to replenish what he’d put out. He suspected he was only half as exhausted as he would’ve been without it. And even that was probably too much. At least he hadn’t passed out.   
  
Oh. No, there went his vision. So, at least he hadn’t  _ died, _ then.   
  
*   
  
Adam woke up with a soft groan and the feeling of something dabbing at his face. Instinctively, he lashed out, grabbing the arm of the person doing it, but when his eyes opened, he yelped in pain and laid back, letting go.   
  
_ Okay, not healed,  _ **_not_ ** _ healed, _ he said to himself, taking slow, deep breaths, before very slowly opening his eyes. This time, he noted with relief, only the Himalayan salt lamp Lance had insisted on putting in their room was on instead of the full ceiling lights.   
  
“Hey,” Lotor said softly, “Are you feeling alright, darling?”   
  
“Like I was run over by a truck,” Adam said with a soft snort.   
  
“Yeah, I kinda figured you’d feel awful,” Lance said from Adam’s other side.   
  
Adam smiled softly. “I’m glad you’re alright.”   
  
“Yeah. Shiro’s aunts were able to help me much faster than you,” they said with a frown, “I mean, you’re getting better, but… I’m totally fine. Their magic worked wonders, and… You’re just… like this.”   
  
“I need to feed,” Adam explained, “That’s the thing that works best for me. As well as completely shutoff from sunlight and such.”   
  
“Ah… Here,” Lance murmured, offering their wrist, “Have some.”   
  
Adam didn’t have the energy to argue, closing his eyes and letting Lance press their wrist to his lips. After a moment, he slipped his fangs in and quietly fed, taking long pulls. He stopped himself before he could take too much, gently cleaning the wounds and sighing.   
  
“Much better,” he said as the feeling slowly returned to his extremities. “Thank you, my sweet.”   
  
“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t, huh?” Lance said lightly.   
  
“Hm. The kind who puts face masks on me in my sleep?” Adam teased gently.   
  
Lance pouted. “Oh, come on, it was working for you! Only like, ten minutes, and I’ll wash it off.”   
  
“...You actually did it while I was in bed, recovering from magical draining?” Adam asked incredulously.   
  
“I thought it’d help you feel a bit better after all that,” he mumbled.   
  
Lotor chuckled, ruffling Adam’s hair. “I told him it would be okay,” he said, “Besides, you look cuter covered in green goop than the blood of our enemies.”   
  
Adam snorted. “Thanks.”   
  
“Just doing my job,” Lotor said primly.   
  
Lance laughed brightly, and Adam decided he could deal with the stupid face mask for ten stinking minutes. It clearly had helped Lance feel like he was doing something to help Adam when he felt powerless, and Adam appreciated that above all.   
  
“I love you,” he said softly, “both of you. So much. I… Lance…?”   
  
Lance’s eyes blew wide. “Y...Yeah, I. I love you both too. A lot. What?”   
  
“I want you to spend eternity with us,” Adam said.   
  
“But… You mean…? The Victual thing? Is this just because Haggar said—”   
  
“No,” Adam interrupted quickly, “Not at all. If I had cared about what she thought, I wouldn’t have killed her. No, I… I love you. And I want you with us. Forever.”   
  
“I love you too,” Lotor said, cupping Lance’s face in his hands over the bed, over Adam, “I want you with us forever as well. You’re charming, smart, funny, resourceful. We love you. And with much of the threats against our lives gone, we… We could live easier. Breathe easier.  _ Love _ easier.”   
  
Lance swallowed, face red. “I… Yes,” he said, sounding choked up, “Yes, of course, I want all that with you. I never could’ve dreamed I’d ever find happiness like this, y’know? Not for real. Books and things, yeah.”   
  
“We all know you mean fanfiction,” Adam said dryly.   
  
If possible, Lance’s face turned even redder. “Okay, whatever. My point is, I… never thought for real I’d get a cool love plus adventure story. That was all…. Just a dream. And yet, here I am, having been a total badass and killed an evil werewolf king guy who happened to be the dad of one of my boyfriends and the other one is a vampire, like… This is wild. And I… I couldn’t be happier. I’d love to be your, um… I know it’s called a Vampire’s Victual, but couldn’t I just be called, like, immortal lover, or something?”   
  
Adam chuckled. “Sure,” he said, bemused, “I can do that.”   
  
Lance grinned. “Cool.”   
  
Maybe all would be right with the world soon enough, Adam thought to himself with a soft smile. Lance would be with them forever. The thought was… Perfect. He looked forward to living the rest of their lives together, however long they chose to make it last.

**Author's Note:**

> The Hebrew Adam uses - "Hapess me sheh ya-enay-otcha" - means "go find someone to jerk you off"


End file.
